I have an overdue paper, another paper due Friday, and an entire course's worth of Greek assignments to finish - this doesn't even include the fact that my first final is on Friday. However, that's not going to stop me from blogging! Procrastination is my strength, after all. Haha.
It's been, what, 3 weeks since my first post on this subject? I won't lie, I've somewhat lost track of where I wanted to go from the end of my last post, but I'm going to do my best to pick it up from where I left off.
I remember being part of a conversation where it was made known to me that the group of "leaders" before the current group at the time never passed down anything they had learned or experienced from their times before they all left to do different things in their lives. As a result, the next group was forced to, not even pick up where they left off, but to start the whole thing all over again. I think I was in grade 12 when this conversation happened. It stood out to me so much because it made complete sense to me.
When I was young, there was a very strong group of leaders that did almost everything for us. They kind of paved the way, I'd even argue much more than any group of leaders had done so after they had left, for a strong community. The evidence is found in that, while many of them nowadays are off doing their own things in different parts of the world, they are still connected somehow.
Up to that point in the conversation, I really saw the people in my age range start to take leadership of the congregation. It wasn't all that obvious yet, because we were still on the cusp of breaking out. It was strange, but I saw it the whole time. I really felt that our group had the potential to become the leaders of, not only the congregation, but the church as well. I'm sure I'm not the only one that saw that. I think a huge reason for that was because we had to learn everything by ourselves - with guidance, of course. We had learned what it was like to have God run the show while we stood there as the instrument or even if it was simply just to watch as the story unfolded.
I was ready as well. I wanted so desperately to become a leader in the church. I wanted so badly to make sure that the group coming up after us would be able to not go through the growing pains that we did, to be able to learn and experience what we've been able to see because of God's grace. I wanted to empower as many people as I could.
I don't know how successful I was. If I think about it now, I don't think I was successful at all. It might have manifested a bit when I was still living in Edmonton, but it clearly didn't last. I don't know how much of what I did back then, is still influential in the way things happen now.
To be honest, before I really got to do much, God called me away from home. I wanted to do so much for my church, but God knew that it was time for me to move out; and, quite frankly, I couldn't have agreed more. At the time, it was time for me to move away from home.
So, the way that I look at it, right as I felt like I was going to really step out as a leader in the church, I had to leave. Sure, I managed a year on the English Ministry Committee, and I was one of the leaders of the worship team, but I don't think I really did much. I never got the chance to share with people all the things that I had learned over the years. I never got the chance to bring up someone who might have been entering high school or junior high, put them on a worship team, and let them see what it's like. Basically, I never got to pass down anything before I had to leave.
Actually, though, I really don't know what that would look like. I don't know what I'd actually be able to teach, tell, or whatever to anyone to make them realize and see the things that I see or from the way I see it. But the more I thought about it, I think what empowering someone would really look like, if it was up to me, is to allow someone to blossom into their own person in Christ. The only thing I can do, is open the pathway to let that happen. So, if it meant to have someone play alongside me on a Sunday, or just to hang out and get to know him or her, that already is empowerment. The whole point is to speak Jesus into people's lives, both ways, so that we feel moved into action and growth.
Empowerment doesn't mean that I am "better" or "more experienced" than you are, so I'm going to teach you. It's simply the community between people, where the sharing of experiences allow for each other to be built up in a way that they can each play to their own strengths and as an entire unified body, live for Christ.
When a group of people don't step up and pass along all their growth and experience to those that are not yet at the stage, it gets wasted. In my life time, I've seen it happen twice now; and it pains me every time I think about what could have been, but isn't. Church just becomes a vicious cycle where a group of people are forced to learning the ropes by themselves because they have no idea what happened to the people before them. And when they finally grow up and learn how to take on the leadership of a church, they aren't able to pass on anything they've learned either before they leave; so it just resets the cycle.
So then, how does it look like if it works? Well, I kind of touched on it a bit already. I don't think that someone needs to be an amazing worship leader, an amazing preacher, an amazing prayer warrior, or whatever to empower people. Sure, a lot of times it will be these people because they're the upfront and center figures that kind of lead the charge. But I feel like a lot of, and maybe even more so, are the people that just take time out of their week to go have coffee with someone. Make it a routine! Go every week. It's amazing how God works when a routine is developed. What do I mean? Try finding a specific time in the day to meet with God, whether by prayer or scripture; it'll be amazing. For example, wake up at 8am every morning to do your devos. When God knows that you've set a time in your schedule for him, he will meet you there. It's just like having appointments with people. It doesn't make any sense if you just casually go about saying, "here, let's meet," while not giving any details as to when you want to meet or where.
The whole idea of community is empowerment. Fellowship is empowerment. When there is fellowship, there is empowerment happening. The very thing with sharing life with people, whether in small groups or large, it allows for the Spirit to work. The more we share life with each other, the more we grow, and the more we learn about amazing things. So, instead of just being like, "oh my gosh, that worship leader is so cool! I wish I could be like him," (as if he was some sort of celebrity) you can say, "I know that guy! He's my friend; and we're tight!"
Eventually, these relationships get contagious. People start to see that the bond between a group of people are strong; and it'll stop them in their tracks, make them turn towards the community, and want to be part of that community. So, it's extremely important to remain open as a group. Don't make it exclusive. Jesus is not exclusive; he died for all. Some of us just choose not to want him; so it's even more important to reach out to those that are struggling. You see where I'm going with this? I hope so.
"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I [Jesus] with them." - Matthew 18:20
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